Valved cap for picnic jugs or the like



Nov. 15, 1949 R. FERRIDAY, JR

VALVED CAP F OR PICNIC JUGS OR THE LIKE Filed NOV. 26, 1947 IN VEN TOR. F955??? fivarnzav, J22.

Patented Nov. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VALVED CAP FOR PICNIC-JUGS OR THE LIKE Robert Ferriday, Jr., Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Metal Industries, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application November 26, 1947, Serial No. 788,152 4 Claims. (01. 3155-76) The present invention relates to a valved closure cap for a picnic jug, or the like. The primary object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described including a pouring lip and a valve for controlling flow from the capped container through that lip, so that the material within the container may readily be poured therefrom without the necessity of removing the cap from the container. Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. l is a perspective View of the upper end of a picnic jug, or the like, with my improved cap applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan View, upon a reduced scale, of the cap;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmental top plan view of the valve well and pourin lip of my improved cap; and

Fig. 5 is an inverted perspective view of the valve plug forming a part of my invention, parts being broken away for clarity of illustration.

It is desirable to provide, as simply and inexpensively as possible, a pouring opening in a cap of the character under consideration, together with readily manipulable meansfor sealing that opening at times, and for permitting fiow through that opening at other times. Preferably, the flow controlling means should be of such character that it will provide a liquid-tight seal, when desired, permit easy pouring, when desired, and yet be held against accidental detachment from the assembly and consequent loss. The control means must nevertheless be so associated with the cap that it may be readily removed for cleaning, and

all of the parts should be of such character as to provide for easy cleaning and, if desired, sterilization.

To the accomplishment of those ends, I provide a cap, indicated generally by the reference numeral H, which will preferably be formed of molded plastic material. The cap will preferably be provided with a peripheral skirt l2 internally threaded for association with the threaded flange surrounding the mouth of a standard picnic jug [0, or similar container. According to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the upper surface of thecap II is provided with a substantially central swelling I3 in which is formed an inwardly indented well, indicated generally by the reference numeral M. The well is designed to provide a substantially cylindrical wall [5 which is radially interrupted at one point Hi, to register with a pouring lip I! which extends substantially to the periphery of the cap ll. Near its base, the well is providedlwith a radially inwardly projecting ledge l8 which defines a substantially cylindrical wall 19, coaxial with, but of smaller radius than, the main well wall Hi. The wall [9 is interrupted,.atat least one point in its periphery, by a radial notch 20 preferably substantially into coincidence with the wall l5. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, two such notches (seeFigs. 2 and 4) diametrically opposed to each other, are provided in the ledge 18. 20

notch 20, a region 2| disposed in a plane normal to the axis of the well I4, said regionZ l merging with a downwardly inclined camming surface 2| which extends to an abutment 22. The function of the surface regions 2| and 2! and the abutnients 22 will presently appear.

A control plug for association with the Well 14 is illustrated in detail in Fig. 5, and is indicated generally by the reference numeral 23. Said plug comprises a substantially cylindrical body portion 24 having upper and lower terminal portions 3| and 3! adapted to be snugly received in the well [4 in engagement with the wall I5. The

'body portion 24 is interrupted, as at 25, to provide a radially opening port 26 communicating with the hollow interior of the plug 23. The lower end portion 21 of the plug is reduced in diameter to engage snugly the wall l9; and at its lower extremity, the plug portion 21 is provided with one or more radially projecting fingers 28 (equal in number to the notches 20 formed in the ledge l8) said fingers being proportioned and designed to pass through the notches 20.

At its upper end, the plug 23 is provided with a thumb piece 29 which, according to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, is proportioned and designed to close the upper end of the wall 30 defining the pouring lip II, when the plug is turned to sealing position.

It will be clear that the plug is readily assembled with the cap by entering the lower end thereof in the Well [4 with the fingers 28 in registry with the notches 20. Now, upon rotation of the plug in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2, the fingers 28 will ride beneath the flat surface portions 2| to lock the plug against removal from the well. As the fingers 28 approach the points at which the surface portions 2| merge with the surface portions 2|, the port 26 comes into full registry with the opening [6 in the Wall I5. At this time, the finger-piece 29 is substantially in the position illustrated in Fig. 1, and it will be clear that liquid in the jug l can readily be poured from the lip l1.

Further rotation of the plug in the same direction will, of course, carry the fingers 28 across the camming surfaces 2|, thereby pulling the shoulder 3| solidly into engagement with the upper surface of the ledge it to produce a liquid seal between said surfaces. This rotation brings the thumb piece 29 into registry with the upper edge of the wall 30, and concurrently pulls the bottom surface of the thumb piece into dustsealing relation with said wall edge. Concurrently, of course, the port 26 has been turned out of registry with the opening l6 and into registry with a solid portion of the cylindrical wall l of the well 14. Rotation of the plug in this direction is limited by engagement of the fingers 28 with the .abutments 22.

With the plug in this position, of course, fluid flow between the interior of the jug and the pouring lip I! is positively prevented.

It is not necessary, in order to permit fluid to be poured from the jug ID, to turn the valve plug into a position permitting removal thereof from the closure cap. Thus, accidental removal and loss of the plug is guarded against. The plug can be readily removed from the cap only by carefully bringing the fingers 28 into absolute registry with the notches 20, and said fingers are preferably so proportioned that they must be accurately registered with the notches 20 in order to permit removal of the plug.

In spite of the fact that loss of the plug is thus inhibited, it will be seen that it is an easy matter to remove the plug for ready cleaning of the parts, when desired.

I claim as my invention:

1. A closure cap having a substantially cylindrical well with an open bottom communicating with the interior of said cap and surrounded by a radially-inwardly projecting ledge, said ledge being interrupted by a notch completely traversing said ledge, the axially-inwardly facing surface of said ledge being provided with an axially inwardly propecting abutment at a point spaced peripherally from said notch, and a portion of said surface between said notch and said abut ment inclining axially inwardly, said well having a radial opening therefrom, and a substantially cylindrical hollow plug snugly receivable in said well, the inner end of said plug being reduced to pass said ledge, but having a radially-projecting finger sized to pass through said notch, said finger being cooperable with said inclined surface to draw said plug into sealing relation with said 4 ledge, said plug being formed with a radial opening therein registrable, at times, with the radial opening in said well.

2. A closure cap having a cylindrical skirt for association with the mouth of a vessel, and further being provided in its end surface with an inwardly-indented Well, said well providing a substantially cylindrical wall and a pouring lip, said wall being interrupted at its point of registry with said lip, a radially-inwardly projecting ledge at the base of said well defining a cylindrical wall of reduced radius relative to said firstnamed wall, said ledge being interrupted by a notch completely traversing said ledge, an axially-inwardly facing cam surface leading peripherally from said notch, abutment means terminating said cam surface at a point peripherally spaced from said notch, a plug having a body portion snugly engageable with said firstnamed wall and another portion snugly engageable with said second-named wall and a terminal portion projectable past said second-named wall, said last-named portion including a radial finger adapted to pass through said notch into engagement with said cam surface, said plug providing a passage opening through said terminal portion and opening radially through said body portion to register, at times, with the point of interruption of said first-named wall.

3. A closure cap having a generally cylindrical port therein and having a pouring lip communicating with said port and projecting outside the periphery of said port, an upstanding wall defining said lip, the upper edge of said wall lying entirely in a single plane, a generally cylindrical valve plug rotatably received in said port, and a finger-piece for said valve plug having a fiat surface and projecting radially beyond the cylindrical periphery of said plug, and means cooperable with said valve plug to seat said fingerpiece surface hard against said wall edge when said plug is turned to bring said finger-piece into registry with said Wall edge.

4. The cap of claim 2 in which said lip is defined by a wall whose upper edge lies in a single plane, and in which said plug is provided with an element having a flat surface registrable with said wall edge to seal said lip when said plug is turned to move its passage opening peripherally out of registry with said point of interruption of said first-named wall.

ROBERT FERRIDAY, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,914,765 Zahn June 20, 1933 1,917,833 Finley July 11, 1933 2,156,654 Kleid May 2, 1939 2,202,852 Hansen June 4, 1940 

